Thursday, May 8

locals watch: asma hassan

In writing about the state's infamous Hassan family, one must take some care. As many a writer (of songs, newspaper articles, or otherwise) can attest, Colorado's most high-profile Pakistani Republicans are notoriously litigious. But their propensity for keeping up media appearances makes them impossible to neglect.

Growing up in the southern Front Range city of Pueblo (where I attended Catholic school with the Hassan children, though never in the same class), my first exposure to this propensity came via the Chieftain's oxymoronic society pages, over which Sandy Stein has lorded for much too long. I had all but forgotten about the family until the past couple of years, when both Asma and her brother, Ali, nabbed the headlines from the ’rents, though not in quite the same society-scaping ways I remember from back in the day: At least in Colorado, Asma is most recently notable for claiming a musician defamed her, and the public-office-seeking Ali for domestic disputes with his ex-campaign publicist/girlfriend.

The latest Hassan-family sighting comes via Glamour magazine's new politics blog, Glamocracy, where Asma Hassan has been tapped as the Wednesday commentator. She's no Ayaan Hirsi Ali or Irshad Manji (who were comparatively examined in a recent NYT Week in Review article), but the liberal Republican is certainly bound to keep the stink eyes glaring.

The Caucus

The Trail

Salon: War Room

Off The Bus on HuffingtonPost.com

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